


i'll sleep just fine with you beside me

by WhatsATerrarium



Category: The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: Cuddling, F/M, Falling In Love, Falling In Love and Being Scared of It: With Your Host Joan Bryant, Fluff, Me Sad; Me Write Fluff, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 22:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20664803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsATerrarium/pseuds/WhatsATerrarium
Summary: “Go to sleep,” he mumbles, almost whining as he reaches his hand out, placing it gently but firmly on her arm.  “Work will be there in the morning.”





	i'll sleep just fine with you beside me

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in scattered bits, bored in the evening, waking up in the middle of the night, or sitting in class, so....

“Joan?”

She rubs her eyes, turning to the dazed figure next to her. “It’s okay, go back to sleep,” she whispers soothingly, quickly turning down the brightness on her laptop as to not wake him anymore.

“What time is it?” He sits up deliberately, the sleep still showing on his face and in his voice.

“It’s… a bit past three.” She returns her attention to the laptop screen. If they were going to have this conversation she was not going to let herself get sidetracked by it.

“Go to sleep,” he mumbles, almost whining as he reaches his hand out, placing it gently but firmly on her arm. “Work will be there in the morning.”

“Ellie wants me to have this done by Wednesday,” she sighs emphatically, “I  _ really  _ can’t afford to take many breaks right now, honey.” The pet name is an attempt at persuasion, easing him into compromise. “Tell you what,” she begins, stifling a yawn and turning to face him, “just give me another hour.”   
  
“Joan…” and now he’s rubbing the sleep from his eyes, waking fully. This leaves her with a pang of guilt, he looks so peaceful sleeping, and once he’s up he doesn’t fall back asleep easily. “‘Just another hour’ is landing you with two hours of sleep.”

“And going to bed now will get me three hours, there isn’t much of a difference there.”

“Three is better than two isn’t it?” He hums, placing his unoccupied hand on her other arm.

“One more hour of work is more productive than zero isn’t it?” Her lips curve into a slight smile, moving closer towards him.

“I’d say that work would be pretty low quality if you’re this tired,” he argues calmly. “Imagine the kind of work you could get done with just…” he moves his arms from hers and instead wraps them around her waist comfortably. “Just a few hours of  _ sleep _ .”

“But-“

“Just three hours, all curled up in bed with me, just… sleeping.” His voice is overly calming as he tries clearly to relax her.

“I’m-“ she’s cut off by the sound of her own yawn, “I’m a psychologist. I know when- when you're trying to play mind games with me-“. She could barely make it through the sentence without a yawning fit.   
  
“Close your eyes,” he whispers, and in the dark she can  _ hear  _ the smile on his face and she really can’t resist. That’s when she hears her laptop snap shut quietly, and when she opens her eyes to find its blinding blue light no longer there, she struggles to make her eyes adjust to the darkness. “Now go to sleep.” She hears the shuffling on the bed as he removes her computer from her lap, placing it on his bedside table, then reaching over to adjust the blanket so that it’s comfortably draped over her.

“Aren’t you going to have a hard time falling back asleep?” She yawns, already giving in and slowly slinking down from a sitting position till she’s lying on the bed, her head falling comfortably against her pillow as she turns to face him.

He smiles back at her and she feels something in her heart swell. Three in the morning on a bleak January Monday and she gets the feeling of calm, of happiness, of- 

_ No. _

She’ll deal with whatever it is she thinks she’s feeling in the morning. Or never. It doesn’t matter much to her, all that matters is the comfort and familiarity of right now, his arms wrapping around her and a kiss being pressed to her forehead as his soft voice responds quietly.

“I’ll sleep just fine with you beside me.”

**Author's Note:**

> So a big reason why I don't usually leave comments is that it doesn’t feel like a conversation, it feels too definite. So, as opposed to asking you to leave comments (which I do still very much appreciate and will respond to if that’s your thing), I’m going to let you know how to contact me!
> 
> Instagram: whats_a_terrarium  
Discord: whats_a_terrarium#0251  
Tumblr: whats-a-terrarium  
Twitter: whatsaterrarium
> 
> If you have any thoughts, ideas, constructive criticism, or just want to ramble, never hesitate! :)


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